NGC 559
Open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia
NGC 559 (also known as Caldwell 8) is an open cluster and Caldwell object in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. It shines at magnitude +9.5. Its celestial coordinates are RA 01h 29.5m , dec +63° 18′. It is located near the open cluster NGC 637, and the bright magnitude +2.2 irregular variable star Gamma Cassiopeiae. The cluster is 7 arcmins across.
It was discovered by William Herschel in 1787.
The object is also called Ghost's Goblet. This name was coined by astronomer Stephen J. O'Meara, as the center of the star cluster, with a little imagination, is reminiscent of a still photograph of a jeweled goblet that is about to vanish in a ghostly manner. O'Meara attributes the impression of fading to the low brightness (about +12) of many stars in the center as well as to the great age of the star cluster, which is about 1.8 billion years old.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “NGC 559”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- NGC 559 PanSTARRS.jpg by Meli thev, CC BY-SA 4.0
- NGC 559 map.png by Roberto Mura, CC BY-SA 3.0
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